Rare set of five misprinted numeral Nixie tubes (cold cathode display) manufactured by National Electronics, each 1″ x 1″ x .75″ and marked on an end: “1970 0009, National Elecsronics [sic] Inc.” In overall fine condition, with some fading to stamps.
A Nixie tube is a cold cathode tube that uses a glow discharge to display information. Unlike its warmer cousin—the vacuum tube—the cold cathode tech of Nixie tubes works like a neon lamp, generating less heat because of the gas that fills the tube and illuminates the number-shaped cathodes. In pop culture, the Nixie tube was featured prominently in the Pixar film Monsters, Inc. as the go-to digital display in Monstropolis, and, in the early 2000s, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak equipped himself with a tube-display Nixie digital watch made by David Forbes.
From the personal estate of a prominent MIT graduate who was a longtime member of the MIT Radio Society. He worked at Draper Laboratory in Technology Square after concluding his studies at MIT.
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